Under the Building Codes of Hong Kong Special Administration Region, the provision of refuge floors has been an indispensable element in their high-rise building design since 1996. A refuge floor is a designed temporary safe place to improve high-rise evacuation during fires. It is a fire-protected semi-permeable feature in buildings taller than 25 storeys. Direct cross natural ventilation by natural wind is an important design criterion of a refuge floor. It helps to prevent any smoke entering the refuge floor from logging and impairing the safe conditions of the floor. This paper reports a study of the wind flow patterns around a high-rise building with a refuge floor at wind incident angle perpendicular to the building. The study is based on CFD simulations which are qualified by wind tunnel data. The results revealed a smoke hazard potential if smoke is dispersed from the rear face of the building at a level closely below the refuge floor. Smoke may be logged inside the refuge floor area behind the internal blockage.

Under the Building Codes of Hong Kong Special Administration Region, the provision of refuge floors has been an indispensable element in their high-rise building design since 1996. A refuge floor is a designed temporary safe place to improve high-rise evacuation during fires. It is a fire-protected semi-permeable feature in buildings taller than 25 storeys. Direct cross natural ventilation by natural wind is an important design criterion of a refuge floor. It helps to prevent any smoke entering the refuge floor from logging and impairing the safe conditions of the floor. This paper reports a study of the wind flow patterns around a high-rise building with a refuge floor at wind incident angle perpendicular to the building. The study is based on CFD simulations which are qualified by wind tunnel data. The results revealed a smoke hazard potential if smoke is dispersed from the rear face of the building at a level closely below the refuge floor. Smoke may be logged inside the refuge floor area behind the internal blockage.